Valen Strike
Appearance Average body frame with tanned white skin with short brown hair that sticks out in the back. Valen stands at 5'9 and through the result of constant training has a honed physic. He has taken to wearing a black long coat with electric blue trimming draped over his shoulders, creating the image of a cape or cloak similar how many navy officers wear theirs. Each sleeve has the kanji for lightning and the back of the coat sports the jolly roger of the Strike Pirates. Underneath he carries his two swords and wears a gray short sleeved shirt with black pants. Occasionally he sports a pair of black tinted sunglasses. Personality Valen is a largely carefree individual. So long as nobody causes him or his friends trouble or injury he's content to move on in the world. He's also somewhat protective of his friends. Because of this, Valen has a tendancy to carry a grudge against those that have attacked his crew or comrades. When his friends are threatened, Valen will not hesitate to retaliate in kind. However if he feels they can handle things on their own, Valen is content to let them do so until it becomes either a bigger issue or starts involving others. Despite being a pirate, Valen is actually fairly noble. He refuses to stand idly by when the defenseless are being abused and will not hesitate to stand up for them. As such he tends to get drawn into the fights of others, though because of his enjoyment of battle he doesn't mind. When called out on this habit Valen will deny it. Despite his attempts to maintain a serious appearance, Valen has a number of quirks that occasionally thwarts him. The first is Valen's fear of heights, when placed in a situation where he is high above the ground Valen is liable to lose his composure and remain so until he either finds something to focus on or he returns to the ground. Also, Valen's strong desire to fight strong opponents tends to override his reason, resulting in him focusing on fighting that opponent and requiring signifigant motivation to do otherwise. When faced with a foe he feels isn't worth the effort or is simply out of their league, Valen doesn't hesitate to use intimidation, usually by demonstrating the power of his devil fruit, to dissuade them. When facing foes he considered worthwhile, Valen may display an air of confidence to intimidate his foes in an attempt to foster doubt before using insults and taunts to throw them off if they engage him in battle. Valen is also impatient. If given the chance, he will immediatly spring into action rather than sit around. Combined with his stubbornness, this creates a tendancy for recklessness. After suffering injuries from battling Donovan Vlad on Cactus Island, Valen refused to remain bedridden despite Fisher's firm refusal. This also extends to when he is sick. When Fisher diagnosed Valen with a severe illness, the crew was forced to slip under the radar to raid a hijacked navy facility to get Valen treatment, knowing full well that he would adamandtly refuse to let them go alone. Despite these traits, Valen is more perceptive than he lets on. When facing a strong foe, he will observe and assimilate aspects of the opponent's fighting style to compliment his own. An example of this is when Valen observed Donovan Vlad utilize his Soru and eventually managed to replicate the technique, creating his Thunder Dash by combining it with his devil fruit's natural speed. Outside of battle Valen likes to quickly assess the situation before planning the next move. However Valen is at his best when thinking on his feet. Dream To become a legendary pirate. Fighting Style Having been training in the art since he was young, Valen is a considerable swordsmen. Valen's personal fighting style focuses on a balance of both speed and power, hitting fast and hard. Valen can use both the Ittoryu and Nitoryu styles, though his first style, Nitoryu, is his strongest and most developed. As a user of both Ittoryu and Nitoryu, Valen can weild either one or two swords in battle. When facing opponents with considerable physical strength he favors Ittoryu, however against faster opponents he relies on Nitoryu to give him a better defense. Despite being primarily a swordsman, Valen is also skilled in fighting with his bare hands. This originates from his time training with bandits. As they were perfectly willing to fight dirty, Valen learned how to not rely on his swords in the event he was disarmed or otherwise unable to use them. His style when fighting this way is the same as when he fights with his swords, prefering speed and power when attacking. Despite being a skilled unarmed fighter, Valen really only fights this way when his opponent either lacks a weapon themselves or when he feels they are out of their league. After obtaining the powers of the Goro Goro no Mi, Valen has altered his fighting style to incorporate electricity, enhancing his already dangerous attacks and making him an exceptional threat against other swordsmen and anyone without usage of Haki or Seastone. Valen's primary method of using his devil fruit ability is to fire ranged blasts of lightning and when fighting up close, augment his power by infusing either his weapons or his own fists with lightning. His usage of the Goro Goro no Mi extends to other versatile and powerful applications, such as shaping lightning into weapons and manipulating the environment to create lightning storms to enhance his already formidable power and summon lightning bolts from the sky to attack. By turning parts of his body into electricity, Valen can also greatly extend the reach of his attacks, allowing him to attack either up close or at long range as he needs. Against skilled opponents, Valen subtly observes the fighting style of his foe, seeking vulnerabilities while also augmenting his own skill by assimilating anything he thinks will prove useful later on. This allows him to adapt against strong foes. Devil Fruit Usage Shortly after entering the Grand Line, Valen found and consumed the Goro Goro no Mi, a Logia-type Devil Fruit that allows him to control, create, and even turn into electricity. Upon discovering the nature of the ability, Valen immediatly got to work figuring out how to utilize it. Though at first he had limited success, restricted mostly to simple bursts of lightning, during the events on Skypiea, Valen began taking large leaps in harnessing the power of his devil fruit. The Goro Goro no Mi allows Valen to create and control the element of electricity. Because of this Valen has the ability to attack with lightning itself. Valen has utilized this in different ways. The first usage was to create powerful blasts of lightning to electrocute his opponents. Because the Goro Goro no Mi has a maximum power of 200,000,000 volts, this means he can either obliterate his opponents or severely burn them with temperatures up to 10,000°C (18,032°F). A sustained blast of at least 5 seconds can melt solid rock. Though he doesn't use his full power except as a finishing move or when the opponent is strong enough to warrant it. Valen can infuse his blades with electricity, endowing his swordsmanship with lightning to increase the power of his attacks. This has the added benefit of making it hard for other swordsmen to fight him, as contact with his blades will cause the electricity to jump to the opponent and shock them through their own weapon. Though at low-moderate power Valen can use this ability continuously, at full power he only uses this in very short bursts so that he doesn't end up melting his own swords. The first indirect usages of the devil fruit Valen discovered was the ability to detect and trace electrical fields. This ability allowes Valen an almost radar-like ability to constantly monitor his surroundings, giving him a wider range of spatial awareness and making it difficult to catch him by surprise. Valen has developed this ability to the point he can even discern individuals based on their electrical presence alone, though he has difficulty doing so if they are in a crowded area or if they are a long distance away such as on the other side of an island. Valen has trained himself to transform into electricity on reflex, allowing him to avoid taking damage from attacks. He can also use his elemental form to travel as lightning, allowing him to outmaneuver most foes at high speed. If a lightning storm is present or forming, Valen can turn into electricity and merge with the storm as a lightning bolt. After that he can fire himself back down to a different location, allowing him to travel long distances in a short amount of time or escape troublesome enemies. However he can't do this from underground or indoors without a direct means of reaching the outside. Combined with his electrical awareness, Valen has demonstrated great evasive ability in battle. Valen's greatest use of the Goro Goro no Mi is the ability to influence the local weather with his electricity. By increasing the electrical charge of the area, Valen can create powerful lightning storms. Valen discovered this ability by accident after a run in with Crane and Orlan where he briefly used his full power to intimidate the bounty hunters into surrendering. The excess electricity he released collected in the area, rapidly heating up the air and creating a lightning storm. Shortly after this he trained to replicate the incident and since then has used this ability extensively, to the point that his moniker has become "Storm King". Using these storms, Valen can siphon the excess electricity from the area into his attacks to increase their power. He can also use the storms to attack his opponent's indirectly by dropping lightning bolts from the sky. At sea these storms also make it difficult to pursue him, as the storm clouds can block sunlight and the waves become dangerous from the rapid change in pressure. At full power, Valen can amplify and direct the storm to blanket bomb the area with repeated lightning strikes, devastating it. History Born and raised in Shimotsuki Village Valen grew up near the dojo of the island. Fascinated by the art of swordsmanship, the day he came of age at fifteen he enrolled and became an apprentice. After three years of training Valen decided he wanted to go out into the world and become a master swordsman whose skill was respected by all. However that same year the World Government had begun increasing their strength of arms in the four Blues and Grand Line. Deciding to wait another year to hone his skills he eagerly awaited the day he could set out and form his own crew. Several months later Valen and his newly assembled crew, the Strike Pirates, entered the Grand Line, narrowly escaping marine custody and the 3rd Pirate Hunters Division. Around this time he also recruited the fishmen Fisher and Kosuke into the crew as doctor and artillery expert. Sometime between the events of Cactus and Monk Isle, Valen found and consumed the Goro Goro no Mi, gaining it's powers. Shortly after arriving on Jaya, the crew had a run in with the 3rd Pirate Hunters Division. Though the crew attempted to flee after a brief struggle, the marines pursued them into a storm that had began. With limited visibility and harsh conditions, the crews clashed at sea, resulting in both groups being caught in and swept up by the Knock-Up Stream. Now stranded on Skypiea, The Strike Pirates and 3rd Pirate Hunters reluctantly called a truce to help the native Skypieans as they fought to liberate Skypiea from Lucias, a fallen champion turned tyrant. During this time Valen befriended the Shandorian and Resistance Scout Master, Mia. When not fighting, Valen would often meet up with Mia and share with her stories of the world below. Eventually the Skypian Resistance won the war with the help of their newfound allies and peace was restored to the land above the clouds. In gratitude, the Skypieans returned the ship belonging to the crew and they set sail to return to the surface. During this time Mia joined the crew, to the delight of Valen. Some time after returning to the sea, Valen fell ill. Concerned with the welfare of their captain, the crew stopped at Blossom Island. There they began an operation to obtain a special blossom to cure Valen. Ignorant of this, Valen remained on the ship to be watched and treated by Fisher. When Fisher left to retrieve water, Valen succumbed to delirium and began hallucinating himself to be "Thor, God of Thunder". Shortly after Fisher returned to the ship, Valen, still delirious and wearing a full set of improvised regalia, teamed up with the fishman to dispatch pirates that had besieged the ship in an attempt to escape the island. Bounty Poster Valen Strike Bounty Poster.png|Valen's first bounty poster Themes File:Laxus Theme Ost - Extended|Decided fate, Valen appears File:Jaaku no tsuchi oto|Worthy foe, Valen battles File:Fairy Tail - Haja no Senpuu|Heated Battle, strike at the speed of lightning! File:Spirited Swordsman Zoro Extended|Ignited File:Fairy Tail Ost Vol.4 Century End's War|A demonstration of power Category:Characters Category:Pirate Category:Strike Pirates Category:East Blue Category:Devil Fruit User Category:Goro Goro no Mi Category:Nitoryu Category:Swordsman